Highland Brewing Company
The Kinsman Project: Black Mocha Stout (Infused With Vanilla Beans, Chipotle Peppers, Cinnamon Sticks And Cacao Nibs)
American Stout
North Carolina
5.6%
22oz, Single
$5.75
Even a fairly aggressive pour barely yields a full surface coating, light tan in hue, while the lacing is wispy it does manage to form long, unbroken rivulets. Pitch black liquid, a few bubbles visible near the yellow tinted surface. Very milky nose, lactose driven with vanilla bean, muted cocoa and a vague coffee roast, has a metallic edge, not much breadth nor staying power so hard to stay with it. Medium-bodied and closer to light than full, here it's first and foremost about the peppers, very spicy and hot. Takes awhile to register the cinnamon amidst the heat but it's there. The vanilla bean and cacao seem faded or at least not up to the task of facing off against the peppers. However, you do get a pleasing chocolaty as well as minty resonance at the end. Has a mineral water sort of base to it, fresh and vaguely stony or metallic. The carbonation holds steady and has enough scrubbing ability to relieve some heat. An admirable try but in the end not that interesting and too dominated by the chipotle peppers.
3 out of 5